First, I need to say that I would like to whack your stupid neighbor with a frying pan. Or better yet, blindfold her and turn her loose on the freeway to see how she'd do. Grrrrrrr.

On to the housetraining. Yes, I think it is possible. Everything you said plus I think that your other dogs would help train her. When I got my second dog, she followed the lead of my first (housebroken) dog. Maybe it will be a little more challenging because she is blind, but I think it can be done.

Bless you for caring.

I'll get in line with weed30 . . . if the frying pan doesn't do it, maybe a rolling pin will!!

Sawyer is blind and, although he was housetrained long before he went blind, he has continued to learn "new tricks." We refuse to treat him differently and he is doing great. I think you will find that this blind dog can do just about anything a seeing dog can . . . she was wise enough to find your yard, wasn't she?

Housetraining has little to do with eyesight and everything to do with scent. Think about the problems owners have with dogs who pee in the same area in the house because the scent of the first accident wasn't completely removed.

The dog will hear your 'uh uh' and you can lead him outdoors to a designated area and say 'go potty' and walk him in circles just like any other dog. And of course reward him when he goes outdoors. Depending on the dog's age and your persistence, I think you have a very good shot at house training. Not sure about the crate, since he may not have retained the 'cleanliness concept' if he's slept in his own waste for a long time :-(

I hope that you and your family can help this guy.

I don't think you would have any more problem housetraining a blind dog versus a sighted one. They use their sense of smell a lot and most dogs try to please their owners if shown what is expected. Bless you for trying to rescue that poor dog. That owner should be blindfolded and tied to a stake sitting on an ant hill. Hopeflly that owner will not get another dog (or any pet).

Im all for the suggestions above.
I had a blind schnauzer who was epileptic and had lost all of her teeth. She was house trained. Some of the things you might want to remember when you take her in.. *we know you are. lol* is to remember to not move furniture. Put something by the front door inside and out that will give her a signal as to the location she is in. Something like a water fountain or a wind chime. That will help her get to the door to tell you she wants out.
Lorie

We had a blind dog many years ago. She was not blind when we got her as a puppy, but it happened when she was about 11. We were building on our house that we had purchased, and had it jacked up to put a full basement under. Fifi (no I did not name her, the breeder did), kept falling in the trench that was 10 feet deep and I could not figure out why. Then I took a look in her eyes, then off to the vet. She had cataracts. I just had cataract surgery myself, don't they do it on pets? Fifi lived another 6 years, blind. She never left the yard either. One thing is to not move furniture, they go by smell and familiar tracks. Close your eyes, and you can generally get around most of your house. Blind dogs need all the love you can give. Depending on it's age, I would be careful about approaching it fast without warning. Talk to it first, so it knows someone is there. Also have others do this also, so as not to scare it, or maybe be bitten if it is surprised by someone. We had no problems with Fifi, and we enjoyed her until her last day. I feel in my heart you will take in this dog, and be a great owner!
Darlene

Okay, ditto on all the previously listed punishments to those heartless, stupid, people who do not deserve a pet. I actually can't think of a punishment bad enough for them. I just do not tolerate ill treatment in any way shape or form, and I might consider sending out the posse to take care of those 2 if they were my neighbors. I do so hope you take this poor little doggy in. I have a feeling you are going to. And we had a miniature poodle when I was growing up that lost his sight and hearing. We had to be much more vigilante about watching him while outside playing and pottying. And yes, he did play and potty outside even though he couldn't see or hear. So I know it's possible, you just need to be aware of their limitations / special needs. But I definitely think that doggy could live a perfectly normal life, as long as he gets away from those monsters next door. Good luck.

I won't even say what I would like to do to your neighbors. I hope you can rescue this poor little dog. House breaking it shouldn't be a problem since it is only 3. From my experience, your other dogs will be a great help to this little one. My Maggie May has been blind since she was 6 (she is 10 now). It has been a remarkable experience to watch how well she has done. The only problem she has is running into her older house mate who is deaf. Animals are amazing at adapting to disabilities. Just treat this little one like any other dog. The less you make of it being blind, the better the dog will adapt. Good luck. Linda

Thank you all so much for your ideas, stories and encouragement.

If my clueless neighbor does allow us to take in little Lola (that's her name), I'm pretty sure she'll just get another dog over there. Her eighth? Oh my gosh. It can't be good for her kids to see all this going on. They're only 2 and 5.

Lola has sort of orange long wirey hair and looks just like the Dr. Seuss character from Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!, a book my kids liked a lot when they were little.

Thanks again. Now we'll see what happens.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marvin K. Mooney

It's great that you are considering rescuing this little dog, and I can't think why being blind would affect housetraining. For that matter, I actually doubt being blind would make the poor dog more likely to get hit than her predecessors; dogs don't generally bother to "look both ways" before crossing the road; if they avoid cars at all, it's because they hear them coming, rather than see them.

But, after you rescue this one, your neighbor is going to get other dogs and they will get hit. You (and your soft-hearted husband) might as well start wrapping your hearts and minds around that truth, or you will wind up just as heartbroken over the neighbor's next dog.

My mother and her boyfriend do not take the greatest care of their pets. They live in the country, let them run, mostly keep them outside, etc, and they mostly wind up getting hit by cars. (yes, I've pointed out my feelings about this). I deal with it by reminding myself that (mostly) the animals came from the pound or are feral strays, and she generally gets older animals who are less likely to be adopted anyway, so they are still getting a couple more years out of life than they probably would have without my mother. sigh. It's not perfect, but I have to live with my mother, and you have to live with your neighbor...

How anyone could mistreat an animal is way beyond my comprehension.
Do what you know is right wooderlander and TH with the neighbour...sorry to disagree with you on the "having to live with the neighbour" quirk.

abr4xii -- I'm not saying wooderlander should **approve** of how her neighbors supervise (or don't) their pets, only that 1) they are her neighbors 2) they almost certainly will get another dog 3) they almost certainly will let it run loose and 4) it will almost certainly get hit by a car. All I'm saying is that those are the facts. Unless she is going to move in order to avoid living across from those people, she **is** going to have to live with them. There's a limit to what she can do; the people are just going to keep getting new dogs who keep getting hit. She can rescue this one, but she probably will not be able to just keep rescuing dogs from these people. She can explain to them until she turns blue in the face that dogs need to be restrained or supervised, but the likelihood of changing their behavior is small. If she lives somewhere where there are leash laws, she can report the loose dogs, but there is a limit to how much good that will do. I'm just suggesting that emotionally she and her husband ought to be prepared to experience the reality that her neighbors will get more dogs who will likely get killed in the road and there is very little she's going to be able to do to stop it.

Yes, quirk, I actually have thought of everything you said, and you're mostly right. My grandparents treated their dogs exactly the way you describe your mother and her BF. I don't think it's that unusual out here, and that's why I've tried not to portray the neighbor as evil. Except for this issue, she seems like a nice person. I was surprised that she was willing to admit that she's had so many dogs hit by cars out here, and that she's doing nothing to prevent it happening again. As she said, "It's just a matter of time." We're out in the country but development is happening, so our road is suddenly very busy.

It's just that this is a particularly small and cute dog. She was obviously meant and acquired by them to be a house pet, not a country dog living outside. When Lola failed to be housetrained, they were disappointed in her and lost interest, is what I think happened. I do think a blind dog might have more trouble with housetraining, that's why I asked the question. Especially if the owner uses the old-fashioned yelling-and-rubbing-her-nose-in-it method.

Abr4xii, I can't comprehend it either. It's just very hard for us to watch this happening. Two other neighbors' dogs wander around too, but they're big and don't appear so helpless.

For training, put a bell on a length of rope on your doorknob, long enough for her to reach and cause to sound. It'll jingle when she goes out, and she'll soon learn to associate that jingle with "going potty" and can be her alert to you that she needs to go.

I inadvertantly trained one of my cats to this. She was a feral that I tamed but she was never comfortable in the house. She took to scratching the door lintel when she wanted to go out, so I put a big hanging sisal scratcher on the doorknob. It had a bell. So, she learned that whenever she wanted to go out, all she had to do was ring the bell. She stopped using the lintel to sharpen her claws, and never really used the sisal scratcher, but she sure took to the bell!

Blind dogs can absolutely be housetrained. A friend has an AST who is adorable (despite the bad rep here on this forum) and is blind. Noz doesn't potty in the house. It can be done, and I don't remember it being that much more difficult than training her to do anything else.

I like the bell idea - I have one for 3 seeing dogs:). I am sure if you talk to someone who trains dogs, they may have a bevy of ideas!

We already have a bell on the door for the poodle. We can just lengthen the cord so the short dog can reach it!

Thanks again for all the ideas.